Nothing well on the economic front:PEW

Islamabad: The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday said the economic managers are the biggest hindrance in Pakistan’s road to economic recovery.
Economic team conveniently blames former government and international developments for all the economic ills while absolving themselves of all the responsibilities, it said. The team has failed to initiate any policy reforms; it continued to rely on borrowing which resulted in serious economic problems, said Dr. Murtaza Moghal, President PEW.
The finance team has failed all the tests since four years; they are accused of fudging figures, protecting rich and making budgets based on assumptions, he added. He said that double-digit inflation, high public debt and looming balance of payments crisis prove that economic team prefers politics to reforms.
Dr. Murtaza Moghal said that false hopes and empty promises have become hallmark of the failed government, all the good news from the economic fronts are mere propaganda. Current coalition is aware that the economic situation is very precarious and only difficult decisions can help country but they are avoiding steps in the right direction for the sake of popularity, he added.
Dr. Murtaza Moghal said that failure of the government to tackle power outages, terrorism and deteriorating law and order situation and choices of the politicians to avoid tough measures are adding to the woes of a crippled economy. Rulers have no intention to sell or restructure loss-making public sector enterprises, bring rural elite in the tax net, boost export, restructure the industrial base or undertake any fundamental economic reforms. Pakistan’s economy cannot sustain in absence of slim and transparent central and provincial governments with high standards of austerity, accountability and a just taxation system, said Dr. Moghal.